Labyrinth new storybook version point 2
by Blue Moon Moments
Summary: A One-shot adaption of what could have happened next in the Labyrinth storybook...J/S


The Labyrinth

_Prologue_

_Once upon a time there was a beautiful young girl, whose stepmother always made her stay home with the baby. The baby was a spoiled child. He wanted everything for himself, and the girl was practically a slave. But what no one knew was that the Goblin King fell in love with her, and gave her certain powers. So one night, when the baby had been particularly cruel to her, she asked the goblins for help._

_"Say your right words," the goblins said, "And we'll take the baby to the Goblin City and you will be free."_

_But the girl knew the King of the Goblins would keep the baby in his castle forever and ever and turn it into a goblin. So she suffered in silence, until one night when she was tired from a day of house-work, and hurt by the harsh words of her step-mother, and she could no longer stand it."_

_The girl appeared before the king in the depths of his castle, demanding for the child to be returned to her._

_"Give me the child, through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered, I fought my way to the castle beyond the goblin city, to take back the child, that you have stolen. For my will is as powerful as yours, and my kingdom is great, you have no power over me."_

_Sadly the king returned the child to the girl, and she was sent back to her home. Remembering the lessons that she had learned during her adventure in the labyrinth, and chose to love and protect her brother instead of berating him._

The Queen of the Goblins

Many in both the Underground and the real world Above assumed that the girl who ate the peach forgot everything in her journey to retrieve her baby brother. But unlike many others who ate dream fruit and lost their memories while inside the dream, the girl had become one of very few who had enough courage and purity to escape the dream that she had been encased in during her adventure, she remembered everything!

It was the day after her celebration party with her traveling companions that she tried to summon them with her mirror as she had done before. Her friends; the elder fox knight, the rock caller, and garden dwarf were surprised that she was still able to bring them through the portal between the two worlds. They told her that before her journey in the Labyrinth, she had been given a gift of wishes from the king years before when she was a younger princess after the death of her mother. The gift of wishes was to make her cheerful and happy despite her harsh life after her step-mother married her father. Her friends told her how the Goblin King had given her her gift of powers, their words brought back childhood memories.

The girl remembered when she was with her father for her mother's funeral in the castle's rose garden, she had been crying and an young gentleman in a mask had appeared before her father to offer his condolences for his lose and offer the weeping princess a gift to ease her suffering.

_She had not remembered much at the time, except that the young man had a pleasant voice and a long black cloak and wide brimmed dark hat to cover his features. The mask, was a dark orange shaped as the face of a monster, yet didn't seen to frighten her. She remembered how she was trying not to cry in front of her father's court, the visitors, and servants. This strange man had knelled down to her level on bended knee and elegantly bowed his head as if she were a higher royal than her father, whom he only had acknowledged with a clipped nod of his head as if he were an equal, something not many did to her father._

_The man had reached into his cloak and pulled out out a small white rose that had glittery silver spots making it shine even on the cloudy day. The girl sniffled her weeping as she stared at the strange man and flower._

_"Smell its sweet perfume, precious, and you will have anything you wish for. Remember to always say "I wish" at the beginning."_

_The girl's green eyes widened as she stared and nodded her head, taking the rose and inhaling the sweet calming smell._

_When she had opened her eyes, the man was gone, and so was the rose. She was alone, everyone had left her, only her mother's fresh grave was her company._

The girl had not thought about that day in years, she always had presumed that it had been a dream and that she didn't need to wish for anything because her step-mother never let her have anything she wanted anyway.

She and her friends were silent after much was explained about her past. Because her parents were still away, she continued to care for her baby brother as she talked to her friends, asking more questions about their world and why things happened as they did throughout their journey. The more the girl asked, the more she learned.

For two years, the girl had her friends visit her in secret after her family had gone to sleep. She still worked to care for her brother and her ever demanding step-mother, she didn't complain or put up a fuss anymore, she merely smiled warmly and went about her tasks. Each night she would stay up with her friends playing games and asking more questions about their world. She became less afraid and more fascinated by everything that she hadn't taken a moment to enjoy during her journey.

One day, her step-mother had become mad with envy when she noticed her son become more attached to his step-sister as she cared for him. The step-mother began to spoil the baby boy with rich foods and expensive gifts to try and gain his affections. Instead, he grew to hate the rich food because it made him sick, and he neglected his new toys to listen to his sister tell him stories.

The step-mother became furious, she began to remove the girl's food to make her starve to death, but her friends visited her every night with the finest of food to keep her living. She asked them how they were ever able to acquire food that seemed only fit for a king's table, but they told that the man who had given it to them had made them promise not to reveal his identity.

When the step-mother had noticed that the girl was not become thin, but more beautiful, she began to punish with more work that often went far into the night, her friends would help her clean and and sew as they kept her company. She would continue to ask questions about their homes, when they began to notice her nearly asking questions about their king. The girl never outwardly acknowledged him, but her friends could tell that she was curious about their sovereign. They couldn't find it in their hearts to tell her that the Goblin King had disappeared from the land after she had defeated him. She didn't have it in her heart to tell her friends that the king's musical voice still haunted her dreams every night.

The next day, the step-mother confronted the girl alone and asleep on the kitchen floor, she kicked her awake dragged her away to be dressed in a fancy gown of blues and greens, there was no jewels or rich stones on the gown, and despite her messy hair, the girl looked lovely. She wasn't given any slippers, but her bare feet were hidden under the long flowing skirts. She was summoned before her silent father where he informed her that she was to be sent away to a local miller to become his wife to help pay off a dept.

Feeling betrayed, the girl feel to her knees before her father, begging him not to send her away from her beloved step-brother. He would have compiled to her wishes, but the step-mother began to accuse her of stealing, lying, and turning the young prince against his parents. The order was carried out, and the girl was dragged away to the stables to be sent on a hay wagon to the local mill miles away from the castle, she was never given a chance to bid her brother farewell.

As she traveled to the mill she weep long and loud till the servant driving the wagon stopped by a well to give her water to relieve her crying. But as soon as she began to drink from the bucket's spout, she noticed in the corner of her eye how the servant began to remove his hunting knife from a hidden holster on his belt. She tried to run but the man grabbed her arm and informed her that she wasn't to marry under her station, her step-mother had hired him to kill her. The girl, acting quickly, splashed the well water from the spout in his eyes and ran away into a field of tall grasses to hide. She was able to escape the servant as she traveled through the fields and hills. It had become dark as she reached a forest, where she sat under a tree to rest her blistered feet. She feel asleep with tears in her eyes as she remembered her near escape of assassination, and the loss of never seeing her brother and friends made weep even more as she sat alone.

"Why is it every time we meet you are always weeping precious?"

The girl awoke to the sound of a pleasant man's voice who stood before her, she opened her eyes in shock to see the man in the mask, the same man whom she had met years ago after her mother died, he looked the same as she remembered with the frightening mask, black cloak, and wide black hat, but she began to notice that his voice sounded familiar.

"Who are you?"

The strange man held out his gloved hand to her, "An old friend."

He helped her to her feet and lead her deeper into the forest, "Come, I have shelter and substance for you. Please, trust me precious."

The girl was still nervous from her previous events, but she chose to trust the odd man from her past. Her mind became curious as they silently walked as she tried to recall in who the man reminded her of.

Once they were settled in his cottage, he fed her a meal of fresh fruit, gave her a fresh dress to wear, and her own clean room upstairs. He disappeared outside the cottage to give her privacy as she wondered why he was being so generous to her?

For over a week they lived together in a comfortable state of content companionship, he treated her as a gentleman would to a lady above his station and refused to allow her to clean or prepare their meals during her stay. He took her for walks in the forest every morning after breakfast to allow her to pick wild flowers to put in her room, played chess with her after tea, and as soon as they finished dinner he would sing or listen to her read out loud to him from the small collection of books he had in the sitting room. Not once did he remove his mask or tell her his name. She felt guilty that she couldn't remember who it was he reminded her of. He never touched her, except held her hand to assist her. He was courteous and dotting upon her every wish.

On the 13th day, she began to realize that she that she had grown to love her new companion and friend, but still missed her brother and mystical friends who would visit her from the Labyrinth. She began to weep in her hands, feeling guilty for not remembering them as she recovered from her frightful abuse. Her gentleman companion calmly coaxed her into telling her when was troubling her heart, and because of the trust she had developed with the mysterious man she informed him of everything she had been though in her life. She recalled the happy days in her youth with her mother, the rightful Queen, before her death. Her struggle in the Goblin King's labyrinth to retrieve her baby step-brother for her mistake. The times of abuse she faced when she returned home a new person, and how the love of her brother and friends kept her going. The final attempts ordered by her step-mother to put an end to her life with the assassin by the well before the masked man found her. As she wept, the mysterious man was silent the entire time she told him her story. After offering her a fine white handkerchief to dry her green eyes, he cleared his throat to ask her a question.

"Precious, I am very sorry for all they you have endured, but forgive me but I have little time before I must leave you forever-"

The princess gasped behind her hands and clutched the man's lapel jacket in an attempt to keep him beside her, begging him not to leave.

"Please, please don't leave me! I've never trusted anyone kinder than you!"

The masked man, sadly shook his head, "It is the law of my people, my dear, I can only reside in one place at a time in the mortal world for 13 days before returning home to the Underground-"

"I don't care if you are not man or beast, I love-"

"You don't even know my name, precious, what good is a man if he has no name to accompany his person?"

"I'm slowly starting to remember that it is you who gave me the rose, but even then you didn't give me your name!"

The girl began to weep again, melting the heart of the man she held.

"Precious, if it wasn't for the laws of my people, I would gladly tell you, but my name is powerful, and very few know of it or even acknowledge it. You say that I am gentle and kind, but I can also be wicked and cruel."

The girl glanced up to try and read the eyes hidden behind the mask, "You are also wise and just, sir, if a man must be wicked and cruel it would be by choice, and I have yet to see you be as you say."

The man sighed and gazed down at her hopeful face, "Forgive me, dear lady, but if you truly remembered me, you wouldn't be so fond of me for what else I have done in your past."

The girl became frustrated as she clutched the silk material of his jacket till her knuckles turned white, "I have seen true cruelty from my step-mother and her minions more to know what is truly evil, selfish, and unkind!"

"What of the Goblin King's evil, precious, did you ever find him cruel and evil?"

The girl staggered to find the correct answer, "I-I-"

The man gently touched her brushed curls with a gloved finger, gently smiling, "Please be honest with me precious, I do have to leave and never return to this house again."

The girl swallowed, and stared at her clutched fists as she spoke the truth that she never openly acknowledged to anyone, not even to her trusted friends who were the Goblin King's citizens.

"I-I, I was frightened of him at first, but he never harmed me in anyway shape or form, he was trying to teach me a lesson for allowing myself to become bitter and selfish. He tested me to help me realize how much I loved my little brother, he returned him safely without harm when I rightfully won him back, he was understanding and just in his promises and decisions. I sometimes wonder what it would have been if I would have met him as a friend to understand him more. I think, I think he was a fascinating creature, more than a man I have ever met, but I think he will ever remember a selfish child who romped through his lands to retrieve a baby that he wanted to care for and keep as his own."

The man smiled down at her and wrapped her tightly in his arms, she felt the soft feathers on his cloak as they engulfed her in his warmth and comfort.

"Precious, I can honestly tell you that he has been dying inside since the day you left his lands..."

The girl quickly looked up at the masked man in shock, "You know him? I don't understand..."

"The same young man you offered an enchanted rose to a lovely grieving princess as a gift of wishing for whatever her heart desires, is the same Goblin King who taught you to never take things for granted, precious."

The girl stood in shock as she tried to put the pieces together in her mind. Unable to trust her voice, she quickly placed her hands over the mask that covered the man's face to remove it from his person. The mask and black hat dropped onto the wooden floor in a soft heap as she looked up in wonder at the tall man's true form before her. He smiled his toothy grin at her as she stared in wonder at his handsome face.

It was the Goblin King!

Epilogue

The Goblin King accompanied the girl back to his home in the Underground, and proposed for her hand in marriage which was accepted happily. Her friends, who informed her that they were members of her fiance's court, were relieved to see her safe and happy. She and her king returned to her father's kingdom to inform her family of her fortunes since her step-mother had informed the father of his daughter's assassination. Once they arrived, they were informed that the good king died due to his grief for his lost daughter, causing the princess to weep. Her brother, the little prince, was overjoyed that his step-sister was alive despite the reports of her assassination. The selfish step-mother had been named queen over the lands, but the sight of the princess and the evidence of her treacherous attempts to harm gave the Goblin King ever right to banish her. For the charges of abuse to his future queen, the step-mother was banished to an Eastern desert to continue walking under the scorching sun till the day she died.

The king and princess returned to the Underground with the little prince, who would one day inherit his birth father's lands when he grew to the age of twenty. The same following week marked the wedding of the Goblin king to his princess, and all citizens of the land rejoiced


End file.
